Today the State Board of Education held its monthly meeting wherein School Superintendent Diane Douglas addressed the scheduled teacher strike. The Superintendent stated that although she has been a strong advocate for higher teacher pay, she did not believe that striking is an appropriate action and strongly implored educators to reconsider the action as she stated it could have unforeseen and irrevocable adverse consequences for the community. Following this statement, the board took action on agenda items related to the A-F accountability system and the menu of locally procured assessments.

The first motion the board passed was on 2016-2017 A-F letter grades. Board staff presented data on the results of changes to the system, which included the implementation of a new hybrid model, the adjusting of the Student Growth to Target (SGT) ceiling, and having bonus points added after a cut score was calculated. The board passed a motion for these grades for K-8, 9-12, and hybrid models to be issued by ADE. These scores saw increases in the number of schools that receive A’s and B’s and decreases in schools that received C’s, D’s, and F’s.

The second motion the board passed was on changes to the 2017-2018 A-F accountability system. The board moved that schools review their data relating to the changes made if possible, that current and future cut scores be presented at the May SBE meeting, and for all the highlighted sections of the PowerPoint presentation provided by board staff be modeled to incorporate an N-count of 20.

The third motion the board passed was that the following items from the Menu of Assessments and Statewide Assessments be opened to the public for comment:
• A revised Menu of Assessments Policy
• Technical assistance for vendors and the field.
• Additional items for consideration.
• The Menu of Assessments and Statewide Assessment timeline.

The board included in this motion that feedback be acquired from LEAs on paper versus computer assessments and that the above bulleted items be finalized for adoption at the May SBE meeting.

If your district receives impact aid, please read this legislative update from the National School Boards Association. Consider contacting your federal elected officials about HR 5199, which would repurpose Impact Aid funding into a voucher program for some active duty military dependents.

Action Alert: Tell the Legislature to Act on Teacher Pay

The Governor’s plan is not the solution to all of K-12’s funding problems. It does however represent a significant increase in NEW formula money above the Legislative baseline budget. As advocates for education funding, ASBA would be remiss if we did not engage in an attempt to make this investment a reality.